A History of Indian Literature v2.c19.s6.t4.219

v2.c19.s6.t4.219

Kumārajīva describes Nāgārjuna not only as a great magician, but also as well versed in astronomy, medicine, the production of precious stones, and other worldly things. The poet Bāṇa (7th century A.D.) relates in the Harṣacarita, that Nāgārjuna received a necklace of pearls from a snake-king, which served as a remedy for snake-bite and in fact all pains. In the Tibetan chronicles Nāgārjuna appears almost exclusively as a mighty magician.² In spite of all this, we may safely assume that he came from Vidarbha (Berār) and was born as a Brahman, for his writings give evidence of an intimate acquaintance with Brahmanical learning. So great was the reputation which he enjoyed, that even after the lapse of centuries, numerous works for which people desired to assure special authority, were ascribed to him.¹ The fact of his being the founder of one of the most important schools of the Mahāyāna, namely the Mādhyamaka school, accounts for this high degree of veneration: for there is not a shadow of a doubt that he is the author of the Mādhyamika-Kārikās or Mādhyamika-Sūtras² which present in a systematic manner the Sūnyavāda which is taught in the Mahāyāna-Sūtras.